I don't think it appropriate to teach Norse mythology, interesting though that subject would be, because there is no longer any significant number of Norse pagans, and especially few, I dare say, in the United States. Furthermore, the relevance of those myths to the present world condition is far less than the relevance of Christianity or Islam.

So teach pupils about all the major religions and allude to others. Let those who wish to specia1ise discover the others later (why is "specia1ise" turned into "spe******e"? Censorship gone mad!).

As for acts of worship, let the school worship according to either the majority religion or the specific faith it professes. Pupils who do not belong to that faith chould be allowed to share in the act of worship, or to do extra maths instead ... I mean private study ...

Next question: Should the study of the French language be compusory in state schools or not? If I wish my child to speak English only, why should my tax dollars be used to educate others in a language that is spoken hardly anywhere in USA, and where it is, it's spoken differently from the way it is spoken in France.


Education is about expanding the mind and learning how to think. It doesn't really matter what facts and information you learn, real education is understanding how to apply that knowledge. It may have failed abysmally in my case, but that's not due to the fact that I had compulsory RE lessons at school, and the tax-payer's money wouldn't have been better spent teaching me more about calculus or the works of Shakespeare

TYWD